Flow battery capable of realizing sealing and battery stack
Technical Field
The invention relates to the field of flow batteries, in particular to a flow battery and a battery stack capable of realizing sealing.
Background
The energy storage technology is a key technology for restricting social development in multiple fields. In the traffic field, the electric vehicle is considered to be a substitute of the diesel locomotive which is widely used at present because of the advantages of zero emission, environmental protection and the like, but the large-scale popularization of the electric vehicle is still great due to the defects of poor cruising ability, poor safety and the like. In the field of electric power, a thermal power generator needs an energy storage technology for frequency modulation, and new energy technologies such as photovoltaic and wind energy need the energy storage technology for smooth output, so that large-scale internet access is realized. In the field of information communication, a large number of signal base stations need energy storage technology to provide uninterruptible power supply to prevent communication interruption. In other work and life fields, people need various energy storage technologies to ensure tasks such as mobile phone communication, computer power supply, electric appliance work and the like. At present, various energy storage technologies have been developed successfully, and according to different principles, the energy storage technologies can be divided into pumped storage, phase change energy storage, flywheel energy storage, electrochemical energy storage and the like.
Flow batteries are a class of electrochemical energy storage technologies, and generally utilize changes in valence states of active substances in liquid phases of a positive electrode and a negative electrode in charge and discharge processes to realize energy storage and release. Technologies including all vanadium flow batteries, iron chromium flow batteries, and zinc bromine flow batteries have been successfully developed. The flow battery is provided with an independent energy unit and a power unit, wherein the energy unit generally refers to electrolyte of a positive electrode and a negative electrode of the battery, the concentration and the volume of active substances in the electrolyte determine the upper energy limit of the flow battery, the power unit generally refers to a single cell or a cell stack, the electrolyte flows through electrodes in the cell stack, and the active substances react on the surfaces of the electrodes so as to convert chemical energy into electric energy or convert the electric energy into the chemical energy. The basic unit of the cell stack is a single cell, the general cell stack is formed by connecting dozens of single cells in series, each single cell is formed by connecting a plurality of components such as bipolar plates, electrodes, plate frames, membranes and the like in series, and in order to ensure that the electrolyte does not leak, gaps are required to be not arranged between the edges of all the components which are in contact with each other, and the sealing is good. However, since a single stack is made of more than hundreds of pieces of materials, the sealing between all the components is ensured with great difficulty, which is one of the key problems to be solved in the engineering and commercialization of the flow battery.
CN101651220A discloses a flow battery integrated device, which mainly uses a bonding manner to connect the main components of the flow battery together for sealing. The method comprises the step of bonding the proton exchange membrane and the liquid flow frame together by using an acid-resistant adhesive, simplifies the cell assembly process and improves the sealing property of the cell. However, the main components of the flow battery are mainly connected together by chemical bonding, and although the purpose of sealing is achieved, the material of the main components is partially chemically changed, so that the main components cannot be recycled, and the maintenance is not facilitated, so that the cost of the battery is high, and the industrialization is not facilitated.
CN102867974A discloses a sealing structure for a flow battery, which mainly aims at a plurality of flow batteries connected in series, and an embedded sealing structure is adopted between a positive electrode flow frame and a negative electrode flow frame of a first battery adjacent to each other, that is, a U-shaped groove is formed at the edge of the flow frame, a bipolar plate is placed in the groove, a sealing ring is placed between the bipolar plate and the U-shaped groove, and the sealing ring in the U-shaped groove is extruded by the plate frame locked by a bolt, thereby achieving the purpose of sealing. The core of the sealing mode is the embedded structure, the structure is ingenious, the sealing effect is obvious, and the defects that the structure is excessively complex, the manufacturing difficulty of key parts is high, the assembly difficulty of a battery stack is high, and the product yield is low are overcome.
CN103840180A discloses a sealing structure for a flow battery wire, which mainly includes an annular wire sealing groove disposed on an electrode frame of a flow battery, wherein the intersection line of the wire sealing groove and the surface of the electrode frame is two annular wires, the center line of the two annular wires on the plane of the electrode frame is an axis, and on the cross section of the sealing groove perpendicular to the axis, the width of the sealing groove at a position close to one side edge of the surface of the electrode frame is smaller than the width of the sealing groove at a position between the position and the side edge far away from the surface of the electrode frame. Although the reliable sealing of the components can be realized, the line sealing rubber strip is convenient to install, and the rubber strip is prevented from being distorted and wrong. The structure is simple, the implementation is easy, the defects are that when the cell stack is assembled, the positioning is difficult, the deviation and the corner warping of a wire sealing material are easy to occur, the assembly difficulty is high, and the product yield is low.
In summary, a sealing technology for a flow battery with good sealing effect, simple assembly and less manufacturing difficulty is needed.
Disclosure of Invention
The invention aims to solve the problems of poor sealing effect, complex assembly of a sealing structure and high manufacturing difficulty of a flow battery in the prior art, and provides a flow battery and a battery stack capable of realizing sealing. The flow battery provided by the invention can realize better sealing, and is simple to assemble and small in manufacturing difficulty.
In order to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present invention provides a flow battery capable of achieving sealing, including:
a diaphragm;
one side of the diaphragm is provided with an electrode, a sealing gasket and a bipolar plate in sequence;
a seal ring;
the bipolar plate is provided with a current collecting area and a groove matched with the sealing ring, the groove is externally sleeved on the current collecting area, the sealing ring is arranged in the groove, and the sealing gasket covers the sealing ring;
the other side of the diaphragm is sequentially provided with an opposite side electrode, an opposite side sealing gasket and an opposite side bipolar plate;
an opposite side sealing ring;
the opposite side bipolar plate is provided with an opposite side current collecting area and an opposite side groove matched with the opposite side sealing ring, the opposite side groove is externally arranged in the opposite side current collecting area, the opposite side sealing ring is arranged in the opposite side groove, and the opposite side sealing gasket covers the opposite side sealing ring;
and the fastening component is used for compressing the flow battery, so that the sealing ring and the opposite side sealing ring are deformed to realize sealing.
Preferably, the seal ring and the opposite side seal ring are each independently of the other hollow structure.
Preferably, the pressure within the seal ring and the opposite seal ring are each independently greater than 1 atm.
The general sealing element, such as a sealing ring, is made of a certain material and is generally of a solid structure, and the preferred embodiment of the invention has better gap filling effect on local defects or tiny grooves/gaps, and is more favorable for avoiding local leakage.
A second aspect of the invention provides a cell stack comprising a flow battery as described above.
During research, the inventor of the present invention finds that the key to achieving effective sealing of a flow battery is the effective cooperation of a sealing structure and a sealing material. When the sealing structure is designed, the communicated grooves are arranged on the bipolar plate, the grooves have the functions of fixing the sealing material (sealing ring) and guiding, and can be tightly combined with the sealing material to play a sealing role when the sealing material deforms.
According to the invention, the composite sealing structure is introduced, the sealing ring (preferably hollow and micro-positive pressure) is matched with the groove, and the sealing gasket is arranged at the upper part of the sealing ring, so that the sealing structure not only has the function of a common sealing ring, but also has the functions of guiding, local micro-volume or self-adaptive sealing, the method is simple and novel, the assembly efficiency of the flow battery stack can be effectively improved, the product yield is improved, and the production cost is reduced.
Compared with the prior art, the invention has the following beneficial technical effects:
(1) according to the invention, a sealing ring (preferably provided with a hollow structure and preferably with internal positive pressure) is introduced into the sealing structure, and under the external force extrusion condition, the sealing ring material can be matched with the groove, so that the sealing of the main body is realized. Preferably, the sealing ring has a hollow structure and is internally positively pressurized, under the optimal condition, the local deformation of the outer wall of the sealing ring can be realized, the local gap filling function is realized, the self-adaptive sealing is realized, and the better sealing is realized and the micro leakage is avoided for the defects of tiny pits and the like on the surfaces of bipolar plate grooves, sealing gaskets and other materials caused by processing or long-time operation.
(2) The sealing ring structure is provided with the sealing gasket, the sealing gasket is different from a plate frame structure reported in the general related technology, is in split type design with the bipolar plate, has flexible structure, is convenient for quickly adjusting the thickness of an electrode cavity, has good sealing effect, and is not easy to have the problems of dislocation, deformation and the like in the assembling process.
Drawings
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a flow cell assembly;
fig. 2 is a schematic view of a bipolar plate of a flow battery of example 1;
FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a bipolar plate and a gasket of a flow battery of example 1;
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional schematic view of a seal ring;
FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a flow battery;
fig. 6 is a schematic view of the opposite bipolar plate of the flow battery of example 2;
fig. 7 is a schematic view of a bipolar plate and a gasket for a flow battery of example 2.
Description of the reference numerals
1-diaphragm 21-electrode 22-counter electrode
31-seal 32-opposite side seal 41-bipolar plate
42-opposite side bipolar plate 411-current collecting region 421-opposite side current collecting region
5-end plate 61-seal ring 62-opposite side seal ring
71-groove 72-opposite side groove 81-electrolyte storage tank
82-opposite side electrolyte storage tank 91-electrolyte inlet 92-opposite side electrolyte inlet
101-electrolyte outlet 102-opposite electrolyte outlet 8-fastening member
Detailed Description
The following detailed description of embodiments of the invention refers to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the present invention, are given by way of illustration and explanation only, not limitation.
In a first aspect, the present invention provides a flow battery capable of achieving sealing, as shown in fig. 1, including:
a diaphragm 1;
one side of the diaphragm 1 is provided with an electrode 21, a sealing gasket 31 and a bipolar plate 41 in sequence;
a seal ring 61;
the bipolar plate 41 is provided with a current collecting area 411 and a groove 71 matched with the sealing ring 61, the groove 71 is externally arranged on the current collecting area 411, the sealing ring 61 is arranged in the groove 71, and the sealing gasket 31 covers the sealing ring 61;
the other side of the diaphragm 1 is provided with an opposite side electrode 22, an opposite side sealing gasket 32 and an opposite side bipolar plate 42 in sequence;
the opposite side seal ring 62;
the opposite side bipolar plate 42 is provided with an opposite side current collecting area 421 and an opposite side groove 72 matched with the opposite side sealing ring 62, the opposite side groove 72 is externally encircled on the opposite side current collecting area 421, the opposite side sealing ring 62 is arranged in the opposite side groove 72, and the opposite side sealing gasket 32 covers the opposite side sealing ring 62;
and the fastening component 8 is used for compressing the flow battery, so that the sealing ring 61 and the opposite side sealing ring 62 are deformed to realize sealing.
In the invention, one side of the diaphragm 1 is sequentially provided with an electrode 21, a sealing gasket 31 and a bipolar plate 41, and the other side of the diaphragm 1 is sequentially provided with an opposite electrode 22, an opposite sealing gasket 32 and an opposite bipolar plate 42, which means that the diaphragm 1 is arranged in the direction from inside to outside (from the diaphragm 1 to the bipolar plate 41 and the opposite bipolar plate 42).
The present invention is not particularly limited to one side and the other side of the separator 1, and both may be the same and symmetrical arrangement, or may be different, as long as the above-described structure of the present invention is provided.
The matching between the groove 71 matched with the sealing ring 61 and the opposite groove 72 matched with the opposite sealing ring 62 in the invention means that the sealing ring 61 can be placed in the groove 71, the opposite sealing ring 62 can be placed in the opposite groove 72, and the size of the groove 71 relative to the size of the sealing ring 61 and the size of the opposite groove 72 relative to the size of the opposite sealing ring 62 are not too large or too small. To achieve an effective seal, one skilled in the art, in light of the present disclosure, will be able to ascertain the concept of "matching".
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the sealing ring 61 and the opposite side sealing ring 62 are respectively and independently hollow, and further preferably, the sealing ring 61 and the opposite side sealing ring 62 are both hollow.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the pressure inside the sealing ring 61 and the opposite side sealing ring 62 is independently greater than 1atm, more preferably 1 to 5atm, and still more preferably 1.2 to 3 atm. The sealing ring 61 and the opposite side sealing ring 62 are preferably each independently filled with air and/or an inert gas. The inert gas may be a group zero gas and/or nitrogen, preferably nitrogen.
According to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention (hollow structure, pressure greater than 1atm), local deformation of the outer walls of the sealing ring 61 and the opposite sealing ring 62 is facilitated, a local gap filling function is provided, adaptive sealing is realized, and better sealing is realized and micro leakage is avoided for defects such as tiny pits on the surfaces of bipolar plate grooves, sealing gaskets and other materials caused by processing or long-time operation.
According to the present invention, the specific shape of the seal ring 61 and the opposite-side seal ring 62 is not particularly limited, and the cross-sections thereof may each independently be a regular or irregular quadrangle, a triangle, or a ring. Preferably, the cross-section of the seal 61 and the opposite seal 62 are each independently annular, preferably circular, as shown in fig. 4. This preferred embodiment is not only beneficial to the processing of the sealing ring 61 and the opposite side sealing ring 62, but also more beneficial to achieving better sealing and avoiding micro-leakage.
Preferably, the cross-sectional diameter of the sealing ring 61 is greater than the depth of the groove 71. Preferably, the diameter of the cross-section of the opposite side seal ring 62 is greater than the depth of the opposite side groove 72. The cross-sectional diameter of the sealing ring 61 and the cross-sectional diameter of the opposite sealing ring 62 refer to the uncompressed cross-sectional diameters without the fastening member 8. By adopting the preferred embodiment, better sealing is more favorably realized, and micro leakage is avoided.
It is further preferred that the cross-sectional diameter of the sealing ring 61 is 0.1-0.5mm, preferably 0.2-0.4mm, larger than the depth of the groove 71. It is further preferred that the cross-sectional diameter of the opposite side seal 62 is 0.1 to 0.5mm, preferably 0.2 to 0.4mm, greater than the depth of the opposite side groove 72. The preferred embodiment is more favorable for realizing better sealing, avoiding micro leakage and improving the local gap filling function of the flow battery.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the cross-sectional diameter of the sealing ring 61 is greater than the width of the groove 71; the diameter of the cross-section of the opposite side seal ring 62 is greater than the width of the groove 71.
It is further preferred that the cross-sectional diameter of the sealing ring 61 is 0.1-0.5mm, preferably 0.2-0.4mm, larger than the width of the groove 71. It is further preferred that the cross-sectional diameter of the opposite side seal 62 is 0.1-0.5mm, preferably 0.2-0.4mm, greater than the width of the opposite side groove 72. The preferred embodiment is more favorable for realizing better sealing, avoiding micro leakage and improving the local gap filling function of the flow battery.
The cross-sectional diameter of the present invention refers to the outer diameter of the ring when the cross-section of the seal ring 61 and the opposite side seal ring 62 is circular.
When the cross section of the sealing ring 61 and the opposite side sealing ring 62 is not circular, the sealing ring 61 is placed in the groove 71, and the upper end face of the sealing ring 61 is preferably higher than the upper end face of the groove 71; the opposite side seal ring 62 is placed in the opposite side groove 72, and preferably, the upper end surface of the opposite side seal ring 62 is higher than the upper end surface of the opposite side groove 72. The sealing ring 61 is placed in the groove 71, and preferably, the sealing ring 61 is in a compressed state; the opposite side seal 62 is placed in the opposite side groove 72, preferably with the opposite side seal 62 in compression.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the seal ring 61 and the opposite side seal ring 62 are each independently selected from at least one of fluororubber, nitrile rubber, ethylene propylene diene monomer rubber, silicone rubber, chloroprene rubber and polyurethane, and further preferably from at least one of fluororubber, nitrile rubber, ethylene propylene diene monomer rubber and silicone rubber. The fluororubber may be at least one selected from the group consisting of tetrapropylene fluororubber, perfluororubber, and polytetrafluoroethylene.
As shown in fig. 2, the fact that the slot 71 is located outside the current collecting region 411 means that the current collecting region 411 is located within the closed structure formed by the slot 71. The outer ring of the opposite side groove 72 has the same meaning as the opposite side current collecting region 421.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the groove 71 and the opposite groove 72 are connected end to end. It may be regular or irregular, preferably regular.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 3, the grooves 71 and the opposite side grooves 72 each independently have a rectangular (including square) cross section.
According to the present invention, it is preferable that the width of the groove 71 and the opposite side groove 72 is each independently 0.5 to 2 mm. The present invention is illustrated in part by the example of 0.6 mm.
According to the present invention, the depth of the grooves 71 is preferably no greater than one-half of the thickness of the bipolar plate 41, and further preferably the depth of the grooves 71 is one-sixth to one-third of the thickness of the bipolar plate 41.
According to the present invention, it is preferable that the depth of the opposite-side grooves 72 is not more than one-half of the thickness of the opposite-side bipolar plate 42, and it is further preferable that the depth of the opposite-side grooves 72 is one-sixth to one-third of the thickness of the opposite-side bipolar plate 42.
According to the invention, said grooves 71 are preferably arranged adjacent to the edge positions of the bipolar plate 41. Preferably, the pair of side pockets 72 are disposed adjacent to edge locations of the pair of side bipolar plates 42. With this preferred embodiment, a better sealing effect is more advantageously obtained.
It is further preferred that the grooves 71 are at a distance of 5-10mm from the edge of the bipolar plate 41. It is further preferred that the opposing side grooves 72 be spaced from the edges of the opposing bipolar plate 42 by a distance of 5-10 mm.
According to the present invention, the number of the grooves 71 and the opposite grooves 72 may be one, or two or more (preferably 2 to 3), which is not particularly limited in the present invention, and the number of the grooves is the same as the number of the seal rings.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, one or more than two grooves 71 are disposed on the bipolar plate 41, and the number of the sealing rings 61 is the same as that of the grooves 71; preferably, more than two of said grooves 71 are arranged in parallel, as shown in fig. 2; it is further preferred that the distance between two adjacent grooves 71 is 0.5-2mm, for example 1.5 mm.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, one or more than two of the opposite side grooves 72 are formed on the opposite side bipolar plates 42, and the number of the opposite side sealing rings 62 is the same as that of the opposite side grooves 72; preferably, two or more of the pair of side grooves 72 are provided in parallel; it is further preferred that the distance between two adjacent pairs of side grooves 72 is 0.5-2mm, such as 1.5 mm.
According to the present invention, it is preferable that the widths of the seal gasket 31 and the opposite-side seal gasket 32 are larger than the widths of the groove 71 and the opposite-side groove 72, respectively.
When more than two grooves 71 are formed in the bipolar plate 41, one gasket 31 may be used, or the same number of gaskets 31 as the grooves 71 may be used. When one gasket 31 is selected, it is preferred that the width of the gasket 31 is greater than the sum of the widths of all the grooves 71 and the sum of the distances of adjacent grooves 71, i.e. that full coverage of said grooves 71 is achieved. When the same number of gaskets 31 as the grooves 71 is used, the width of each gasket 31 is greater than the width of the groove 71 it covers.
The arrangement principle of the opposite side gasket 32 is the same as that of the gasket 31, and the description thereof is omitted.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the thickness of the seal 31 and the opposite-side seal 32 is each independently 8 to 20 mm.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the seal 31 and the opposite-side seal 32 are each independently selected from at least one of polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene, polyethylene, polytetrafluoroethylene, and a reinforced polymer composite, and more preferably from at least one of polytetrafluoroethylene, polyvinyl chloride, and a reinforced polymer composite.
According to the present invention, the separator 1 may be any separator conventionally used in the art, and the present invention does not particularly limit the separator, and the separator 1 may be any separator as long as it can allow the positive electrode and the negative electrode (the above-mentioned electrode and the opposite electrode) of the flow battery to communicate ions therethrough, preferably, the separator 1 is selected from at least one of a cation exchange membrane, an anion exchange membrane and a sieving membrane, and further preferably, may be at least one of a sulfonic acid type separator material, a polymeric porous membrane material, an organic/inorganic composite material and an inorganic separator material. The separator 1 may be commercially available.
The electrode 21 and the counter electrode 22 of the present invention correspond to the positive and negative electrodes of a flow battery and can be various porous electrodes conventionally used in the art. Preferably, the electrode 21 and the counter electrode 22 are each independently selected from at least one of carbon paper, carbon felt, graphite paper, and graphite felt.
The bipolar plate 41 and the opposite bipolar plate 42 may be bipolar plates conventionally used in the art, and the bipolar plates may be any conductive material, such as at least one that may each be independently selected from a graphite material, a graphite/polymer composite material, and a conductive carbon material, according to the present invention.
According to one embodiment of the invention, the flow battery further includes an end plate 5 positioned outside the bipolar plate 41 and the opposite bipolar plate 42 (inside near the membrane 1 and outside away from the membrane 1). The end plate 5 is used for fixing the flow battery, and the material of the end plate includes, but is not limited to, a metal material, a metal/polymer composite material, and a glass fiber/polymer composite material.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 5, the flow battery further includes: an electrolyte storage tank 81, an electrolyte inlet 91, an electrolyte outlet 101, an opposite electrolyte storage tank 82, an opposite electrolyte inlet 92, and an opposite electrolyte outlet 102; the electrolyte inlet 91 and the electrolyte outlet 101 allow the electrolyte in the electrolyte reservoir 81 to circulate between the electrolyte reservoir 81 and the electrode 21; the contralateral electrolyte inlet 92 and the contralateral electrolyte outlet 102 allow the contralateral electrolyte in the contralateral electrolyte reservoir 82 to circulate between the contralateral electrolyte reservoir 82 and the contralateral electrode 22.
The electrolyte and the opposite electrolyte are not particularly limited in the present invention, and the electrolyte and the opposite electrolyte correspond to a positive electrolyte and a negative electrolyte, and may be various electrolytes conventionally used in the art, and the present invention is not described herein again.
According to the invention, the fastening member 8 is used for compressing the flow battery, and can be various members conventionally used in the field, and preferably, the fastening member 8 is selected from bolts and/or welding rods. In the embodiments of the present invention, a bolt is used as an example for description.
A second aspect of the invention provides a cell stack comprising a flow battery as described above. The skilled person can make corresponding arrangements according to actual situations, and the cell stack may include more than two flow cells arranged in series. The battery stack is provided with one or more than two electrolyte storage tanks 81 and one or more than two opposite electrolyte storage tanks 82, wherein the electrolyte storage tanks 81 provide electrolyte, and the opposite electrolyte storage tanks 82 provide opposite electrolyte.
The present invention is described in more detail with reference to the following examples.
Example 1
The flow battery is shown in fig. 1 and comprises: a diaphragm 1; one side of the diaphragm 1 is provided with an electrode 21 (porous carbon fiber felt, trade name KFD2.5EA, size 200mm × 200mm × 2.5mm), a sealing gasket 31 and a bipolar plate 41(300mm × 300mm × 3mm, graphite material) in sequence; the other side of the separator 1 is provided with a counter electrode 22 (common electrode 21), a counter gasket 32, and a counter bipolar plate 42 (common bipolar plate 41) in this order. As shown in fig. 5, the flow battery further includes an electrolyte reservoir 81, an electrolyte inlet 91, an electrolyte outlet 101, a contralateral electrolyte reservoir 82, a contralateral electrolyte inlet 92, and a contralateral electrolyte outlet 102; the electrolyte inlet 91 and the electrolyte outlet 101 allow the electrolyte in the electrolyte reservoir 81 to circulate between the electrolyte reservoir 81 and the electrode 21; the contralateral electrolyte inlet 92 and the contralateral electrolyte outlet 102 allow the contralateral electrolyte in the contralateral electrolyte reservoir 82 to circulate between the contralateral electrolyte reservoir 82 and the contralateral electrode 22.
An end plate 5 is provided outside the bipolar plate 41 and the opposite bipolar plate 42.
As shown in fig. 2 and 3, the bipolar plate 41 is provided with a current collecting region 411(200mm × 200mm) and two circles of parallel grooves 71 arranged at the edge of the bipolar plate 41, the two circles of parallel grooves 71 are arranged outside the current collecting region 411, the depth of each groove 71 is 0.5mm, the width of each groove 71 is 0.6mm, the distance between the two circles of parallel grooves 71 is 1.5mm, and the outer edge of each outer circle of grooves 71 is 10mm away from the outer edge of the bipolar plate 41. The two parallel grooves 71 are respectively filled with a sealing ring 61 (made of polytetrafluoroethylene, as shown in fig. 4, the cross section of the sealing ring is a circular ring, the inner diameter is 0.5mm, and the outer diameter is 0.8mm), the sealing ring 61 is filled with argon, and the pressure in the sealing ring 61 is 1.2 atm. The sealing gasket 31 covers the two sealing rings 61, and the sealing gasket 31 is made of PVC, 1.5mm in thickness and 20mm in width. The same arrangement as for the bipolar plate 41 is made on the opposite side bipolar plate 42.
And (3) compressing the flow battery by using a fastening part 8 (bolt), so that the sealing ring 61 and the opposite side sealing ring 62 deform to realize sealing, and obtaining the flow battery.
Comparative example 1
A flow battery comprising: a diaphragm; one side of the diaphragm is sequentially provided with an electrode (a porous carbon fiber felt, Shangxi grid, trade mark KFD2.5EA, size of 200mm multiplied by 2.5mm), a plate frame (300mm multiplied by 2mm, the plate frame is hollow, the edge thickness is 10mm, the PVC material is adopted), and a bipolar plate (300mm multiplied by 3mm, the expanded graphite material is adopted); the other side of the diaphragm is sequentially provided with a contralateral electrode (the same electrode), a contralateral plate frame (300mm multiplied by 2mm, the plate frame is hollow, the edge thickness is 20mm, and the plate frame is made of PVC material) and a contralateral bipolar plate (the same bipolar plate). The flow battery also comprises an electrolyte storage tank, an electrolyte inlet, an electrolyte outlet, an opposite electrolyte storage tank, an opposite electrolyte inlet and an opposite electrolyte outlet; the electrolyte inlet and the electrolyte outlet enable the electrolyte in the electrolyte storage tank to circularly flow between the electrolyte storage tank and the electrode; the contralateral electrolyte inlet and the contralateral electrolyte outlet enable the contralateral electrolyte in the contralateral electrolyte storage tank to circulate between the contralateral electrolyte storage tank and the contralateral electrode. The bipolar plate and the opposite side bipolar plate are provided with end plates at the outer sides.
The edge of the plate frame is provided with a groove, the groove surrounds the current collecting area on the corresponding bipolar plate, the depth of the groove is 0.5mm, and the width of the groove is 1.5 mm. An O-shaped ring (with the diameter of 6mm and the circular cross section and made of nitrile rubber) is embedded in the groove, epoxy resin is used for bonding the O-shaped ring and the plate frame, and the plate frame is covered by a bipolar plate. The side panel frame was set up identically.
And (3) compressing the flow battery by adopting a fastening component, so that the O-shaped ring and the opposite side sealing O-shaped ring deform to realize sealing, and obtaining the flow battery.
Example 2
A flow battery was assembled according to example 1, except that a circle of grooves was formed on both the bipolar plate 41 and the opposite bipolar plate 42, the outer circle of grooves was retained, the inner circle of grooves was not formed, the corresponding inner circle of seal ring was not formed, the width of the seal ring was 10mm, and the schematic view of the opposite bipolar plate 42 is shown in fig. 6 and 7.
Example 3
A flow battery was assembled as in example 1 except that the sealing ring 61 and the opposite side sealing ring 62 were filled with air and the pressure was 1 atm.
Example 4
A flow battery was assembled as in example 1, except that seal 61 and opposite seal 62 were solid structures.
Example 5
A flow battery was assembled as in example 2, except that the grooves formed in the bipolar plate 41 and the opposite bipolar plate 42 were 1mm wide and 0.9mm deep, and the sealing rings fitted to the grooves were 1mm in outer diameter and 0.5mm in inner diameter, and were made of nitrile rubber.
Test examples
The sealing performance of the flow batteries of examples 1-5 and comparative example 1 was tested as follows:
and pumping deionized water into the flow battery, closing an outlet valve and an inlet valve of the flow battery when a certain water pressure is reached, maintaining the pressure for 2 hours, and if no pressure drop occurs, determining that the flow battery can meet the sealing requirement under the water pressure. The sealing effect of the flow batteries of examples 1-5 and comparative example 1 is listed in table 1.
TABLE 1
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Sealing effect
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Example 1
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The water pressure reaches 5atm, the pressure is maintained for 2 hours without pressure drop
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Comparative example 1
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The water pressure reaches 2atm, and the pressure drop occurs after 2 hours of pressure maintaining
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Example 2
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The water pressure reaches 4atm, the pressure is maintained for 2 hours without pressure drop
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Example 3
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The water pressure reaches 3.5atm, the pressure is maintained for 2 hours without pressure drop
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Example 4
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The water pressure reaches 3atm, the pressure is maintained for 2 hours without pressure drop
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Example 5
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The water pressure reaches 3atm, the pressure is maintained for 2 hours without pressure drop |
From the above, the flow battery provided by the invention can achieve a better sealing effect than that of the prior art, is simple to assemble and small in manufacturing difficulty, and can omit the use of a flow frame. In the prior art, the main parts of the redox flow battery are connected together in a chemical bonding mode, so that although the purpose of sealing is achieved, the material of the main parts is partially chemically changed, and cannot be recycled, and meanwhile, the maintenance is not facilitated, so that the cost of the battery is higher, and the industrialization is not facilitated; in the prior art, an embedded sealing structure is adopted between a first battery anode liquid flow frame and a second battery cathode liquid flow frame which are adjacent, so that the structure is excessively complex, the manufacturing difficulty of key parts is high, the assembly difficulty of a battery stack is high, and the product yield is low.
The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Within the scope of the technical idea of the invention, numerous simple modifications can be made to the technical solution of the invention, including combinations of the specific features in any suitable way, and the invention will not be further described in relation to the various possible combinations in order to avoid unnecessary repetition. Such simple modifications and combinations should be considered within the scope of the present disclosure as well.